India on Friday launched ‘Operation Amistad’, sending out two Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 Globemaster planes carrying a specialised Indian Army medical contingent and humanitarian assistance to earthquake hit Venezuela. Venezuela was struck by two powerful earthquakes causing widespread devastation across the country’s northern region, killing at least 235 people and injuring thousands.
This includes a “41-member medical team” from the Indian Army’s 60 Para Field Hospital consisting of nine “medical officers and other healthcare personnel trained in emergency response”. Equipped to provide trauma care, emergency surgeries, critical care and other life-saving medical services in the areas affected by the “devastating earthquake in northern Venezuela”, the team will also be accompanied by nearly six tonnes of humanitarian aid including medical supplies, an IA Para Field Hospital and the indigenously developed BHISHM Cube under India’s Aarogya Maitri Project.
Also Read: Venezuela earthquake: Overseas aid arrives after tremors kill at least 235
The BHISHM Cube is a rapidly deployable ‘modular’ field hospital designed to provide ‘advanced trauma care’, emergency surgeries & intensive care for up to 200 patients. It has been developed to strengthen India’s disaster response capabilities and can be quickly deployed in humanitarian emergencies across the world.
